The agent's role is manifold, according to your needs. Light editing, sequentially arranging your material if necessary, marketing the book to publishers, helping you interact with the publisher on matters of the cover, illustrations, blurbs, release, publicity, explore licensing opportunities, checking to make sure the publisher knows how to use that top row of keys when it is check writing time and finally and most important of all, encouraging the promotion of your book.

An agent's job is to determine if your subject has a market s/he can help you reach. The degree of penetration of that market will be based on how good your book is, how good the publisher is, how good the publicity is, how good the distribution is, and how good the public thinks everything combined fits and works for their personal needs.

S/he maintain lists of markets for each category. The ones most familiar with Tale Wins goes at the top of each list. S/he starts at the top of who should be interested in your particular subject, send out five proposals, then five more, and five more, and so forth. Meanwhile, teaser copy for your project is added to the flyer advising any editor interested in fiction,,,, or nonfiction as the case may be,,, that your project is available. This goes out inside packages being mailed for each writer. Thus, if there are ten nonfiction projects altogether, yours will be going out fifty times instead of just five. As any project we handle must be written well enough to impress any editor we send it to, they are more likely to give other ideas from us a look even if they turn the original project down for some reason,  More information?  Click here.

Don't fall prey to the thought you have only one shot at getting an agency to represent you.  Any agency who doesn't charge a reading fee that is willing to accept you as a client is a good indication that your work will be accepted at other agencies as well.  Good agents only accept work they believe in.  If you ever want to TEST an agency before doing business with them, I suggest you use an assumed name and address to submit material you know is inferior.  The spirit in which they reject it will say a whole lot about that agency that you need to know before sending them your best work. Find the one agency that you like which will accept you and has time for your project.

I especially want to caution you against turning down a brand new agency simply because they are just starting out.  All of us had to start somewhere and if the truth be known, some of the newer agencies will work a whole lot harder for you than some of us with more experience.

The worst kind of criticism isn't when one agent turns you down.  It isn't even when one publisher turns you down.  Nor is it when one reviewer rips you apart.   The worst kind is when you get published and nobody reads your book.

There are times when the pain of too many rejections runs too deep and we (struggling to be authors) just want a professional evaluation of our writing talents.  "Is it me, the market, or the editors I'm sending my work to?"  You can E-Me with up to 5 pages of G-rated writing sample or send hard copy to Earl H. Roberts at 414 North 8th Street Street in Mena, Ark. 71953 for a free critique.  Be sure to include a stamped envelope for the return of your material. 

One question I get more than any other is "What questions should I be asking a literary agent before signing?  How do I know when I have found the right literary agent?"

I have seen that question answered by many literary agents.  Strangely enough, if you follow their directions to the letter, you will somehow end up wanting to do business with that agency.  I'd like to make a departure from that format as I feel the answer is very important to you whether we ever do business or not. 

First of all, if you have the world's hottest property and expect an advance over $500,000 then you probably do need an agent with an office in New York City.  Those agents there have a slight built-in geographical advantage to the rest of us as they are able to have a string of dinners with different editors each week and can romance and enhance your project beyond recognition.   You get these New York agents on the phone and you are likely to hear scintilating conversation something like, "As I was saying to Judith Regan just last week when we were having lunch together,"...  They don't seem to believe that phoning Judith behind closed doors is the better part of valor.

If your project carries less heat, any legitimate agent in the U.S. or Canada is probably a good contender for representing you and can be expected to produce results for you not more than a week longer than a New York based agency out there spreading caviar all the time. 

Here are the questions I believe you should be asking AFTER any agency you don't recognize the name of expresses an interest in your project:

1. Are you anxiously engaged in selling books to publishers and (whatever etc. services required for the project)  I need?
2. Are you familiar with the genré my project is in?
3. Which services that you provide do you charge writers for?
4. What is the one thing your agency is most proud of?
5. Do you offer light editing services?
6. What else is expected of me after signing the contract?
7. Can I reach you by phone or fax?

You will notice I don't provide any "typical" or "good" answers to the questions.  That's because these questions are designed just to get the facts out on the table for you to ponder.  No two writers will want the same kind of agency.  Narrow your choices down, then without bugging them, keep asking more questions until you are sure you have the best literary agency who will represent you.

I am sorry to say I did not have a year to answer the poor boy.

Click HERE to review everything in the Tale Wins Treasure Chest

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Writers, we have once again initiated a place for you to post your own short stories to the web.  When you do post, those stories will be FLUNG to the far corners of the web for millions of readers to see.  Add your moneymaking sales copy in the resource box at the bottom of the article.  Our readers are invited to read those stories published here.  Look on the right hand side for instructions.   Don't wait to be a writer. Write now. start with fillers. start with jokes. start with vignettes. START. Remember, there are some people making a good living who don't do a thing but come up with IDEAS other writers can develop. The key is to begin scribbling and don't look back. If nothing else, start yourself a blog. When positive feedback begins to trickle in you'll gain confidence to stretch out to bigger and better things. Click on the Cover and  Get the Free Book,  The companion title has now been published too..... Sell Everything You Write... Take advantage of every subject and every author in this book.  Any one of them could be worth a million dollars to you.  You can stack the odds in your favor and sell virtually everything you write.  You will find over 30,000 words of pointed advice here telling you how to do exactly that.  Articles by Lin Stone, Robert Bly, Judy Cullins, Kathy Burns-Millyard, Robin Nobles, Max Shifrin, Michael Carr, Lynda Lotman, June Campbell, David Vallieres, Bill Platt, Maria Stefanova, jl scott, ph.d., and others have been assembled into one powerful package that you can use to catapult your career into high gear.  There is a resource box at the end of most articles.  If the author has given you good value then be sure to visit their web site or resource facility to see what else the author has available for you.  This has been published by Browzer Books in pdf format for your instant pleasure.  RIGHT CLICK HERE to download.   Now there is a third book ready for your perusal.   It is a 100 page book, a series of shortcuts in learning to write and speak well. Book Four Article Writing Secrets reveals the easy, proven and simple way to pump out High Quality Articles and turn them into long term Residual Income.  Eight Special Tools for Writers, Click HERE Have you ever dreamed of becoming a professional cartoonist? Now you can get your own cartoons PUBLISHED and EARN REAL $$$$ within THREE MONTHS... GUARANTEED! Some people begin making money immediately.   http://yourcartooncareer.com/ordernow.htm Productivity begins by recognizing and valuing your brilliance, time, and space. It starts with awareness of what works and what does not. It continues with examining what needs grease, or other needs. Search for the truth for what you need in order to rev up your writing.   $10 Book Covers  Use your cover to make your books look real  BEFORE you write them -- and this will help you to sell your books to publishers and editors.   Book Sales Made Easy   Bullet Proof your Proposal  When your book DIES  Sell Your Books While Asleep   Why Should You Get e-Published? A success story from Lin Stone. Cafe Hemingway, news, peace and rest. Do ebooks want to be free?  Every writer needs to get away from it all so, Get Your Own Country Estates  DIRT CHEAP! There are many success systems available to the world of writers, including the Christian's Self Improvement Plan.   How to tell if you are helping web pirates.   CONTACT Travel Writing Search Engines  Writer  Friendly Insurance  Free pictures that can help get you published in a hurry. Golden Writing Resources Over 100 articles are available to help you write better, faster, and find the readership you crave.

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Literary Treasures
Last Forever

The heroes of Homer still romp through the Trojan plains.  The wisdom of Confucius still rings with truth.  The last minutes in the life of Socrates shall never die.  Christ rises triumphant from the tomb.  The immortal works of Shakespeare shall yet claim the thespian boards of deepest space.  Gulliver shall travel on forever. Maybe none of the writers you see working here at Tale Wins will ever be that good, but we intend to give them every chance to make it into the Literary Hall of Fame.  Remember too, you don't have to be THE best to be proud of doing your best. It is said you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. On the web that is very definitely NOT TRUE.  Writers on the web can change the ending of each story twice a day, or even change it every time a new visitor comes, according to whether it is a man, woman, or child visiting, or some other criteria entirely. On the web you can go on improving your story any time and every time you feel like it.  You can have your own web site and rearrange each page in it as often as you like.  You can change the links and the navigation system as often as you like.  If you aren't getting paid enough you can find better advertisers.

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